Immigration Reform News 2015: Scott Walker Changes Stance on Immigration Due to Obama's 'Mishandling'

A presumptive Republican presidential candidate for 2016, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has flip-flopped on his stance against a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

The Republican, who surged to the front of 2016 presidential primary polls in recent weeks, admitted he no longer supports reforms that allow undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States.

"My view has changed. I'm flat out saying it. Candidates can say that, sometimes they don't," Walker told host Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday."

"I don't believe in amnesty, and part of the reason why I've made that a firm position is I look at the way this President has mishandled this issue," Walker told Wallace.

In 2013, Walker said a plan in which illegal immigrants can become American citizens by first paying penalties and enduring a waiting period "makes sense."

"I think the better approach is to enforce the laws and to give employers, job creators the tools like e-verify and other things to make sure the law is being upheld going forward," he explained.

Wallace pressed Walker on his opposition to comprehensive immigration reform, pointing out that the governor had said in a 2013 interview with a Wisconsin editorial board that he supported it.

Walker insisted Sunday that border security was an important first step to repairing the United States' flawed immigration system.

"And the concerns I have is that we need to secure the border. We ultimately need to put in place a system that works - a legal immigration system that works," he said, according to CNN.

"And part of doing this is put the onus on employers, getting them E-Verify and tools to do that. But I don't think you do it through amnesty," Walker added.

Walker also is among the 25 Republican governors who have joined in a lawsuit challenging President Obama's 2014 executive action that defers deportation for millions of illegal immigrants.

After calling the right-to-work bill in the Wisconsin Legislature a "distraction" during his 2014 re-election season, Walker now touts the G.O.P.-backed plan, which essentially stops unions from collecting dues from non-union workers.

On Sunday, Walker said that "now is the perfect time" for the bill to be passed and for him to sign it.

It's a particularly sticky issue among Republican primary voters with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio taking fire from the right for supporting measures that would allow undocumented immigrants to remain in the country.